The prime minister yesterday announced plans to offer disabled people more opportunities to get off benefit and into work.
Tony Blair devoted a significant portion of his keynote speech to his vision of the future of the welfare state, which included a determination to support people who wanted to work.
"We are piloting new approaches to reach out to those trapped on incapacity benefit to help them return to work," Mr Blair said. "We know that a million IB claimants say that they want to work - given the right help and support."
While the PM's effort to help disabled people find long-term employment won widespread support, the left leaning think tank ippr, warned that reducing the number of incapacity benefit claimants should not be seen as a quick fix to the pensions crisis.
"It's a mistake to couple together pensions issues and incapacity benefit," Kate Stanley, head of policy research at the ippr, told the BBC's World at One.
"If there were to be any savings to be made incapacity benefits, however that might be done, it's not appropriate to be thinking about creaming off those savings to support the pensions system."
A report by the Pensions Commission out today shows that a £57 billion savings gap is threatening to leave Britons facing poverty in retirement.
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